A general object, in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, is to provide water boxes for batch chargers that have curvate flow paths for improved coolant flow in the boxes. Improved coolant flow results in improved cooling of the boxes to avoid hotspots and corrosion at the hotspots, thereby extending the lifespan of the boxes to reduce downtime of glass manufacturing operations.
The present disclosure embodies a number of aspects that can be implemented separately from or in combination with each other.
A coolant box for a glass batch charger in accordance with one aspect of the disclosure includes a base, a front wall, a rear wall, a coolant labyrinth extending from the base between the front and rear walls, and including a plurality of curvate baffle walls establishing a plurality of curvate coolant channels.
In accordance with another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a glass batch charger for charging batch glass-forming materials into a melt furnace. The charger includes a stationary box of hollow arcuate construction having a part-circular opening and coolant circulation paths extending throughout the hollow arcuate construction, and an oscillating box of hollow part-circular construction disposed within the part-circular opening of the stationary box, the oscillating box having coolant circulation paths extending throughout the hollow part-circular construction. The charger also includes a pusher box on the oscillating box for coupling to an actuator to push glass batch materials from a hopper past the stationary and oscillating boxes into a melt furnace, and means for circulating coolant at least through the stationary and oscillating boxes. The coolant circulation paths in the stationary box are arcuate around the part-circular opening, and the coolant circulation paths in the oscillating box are arcuate around an axis of the part-circular construction.